U. Schnelle on North American Jesus Research
In some streams of North American Jesus research there was and is a clear tendency to promote real or postulated extra canonical tradition to a rank prior or parallel to the Jesus tradition of the Synoptics and the Johannine writings (H. Koester; J. M. Robinson; J. D. Crossan; B. L. Mack). The goal of such constructions is clearly to break the hold of the canonical gospels and to establish an alternative picture of Jesus based on other interpretations of the tradition. To do this, frequent use is made of the lust for sensationalism (Jesus and women; homosexual love; Jesus as prototype of alternative lifestyles; non theological, undogmatic beginnings of Christianity). Mere supposition and unproven postulates are asserted as stimulants for a debate intended to have public effects. Such constructions do not stand up to historical criticism, for neither the existence of a Secret Gospel of Mark nor a Signs Source can be made probable, and the Gospel of Thomas belongs to the second century.
Schnelle, U. (2009) Theology of the New Testament. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, p. 65.
Schnelle, U. (2009) Theology of the New Testament. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, p. 65.
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Brunner on God's Plan for the World
We live in a vast universe and we are very small in it. We do not see the whole in its entirety. We manage to understand a little of all its complexity. When we ask about the purpose of all that is around us the answer is not clear. We do not know where the world is headed. We do not know where we are going. This is a deep mystery. Read More...
Silence is a Woman's Glory
The title of this post is an exact quote from Aristotle's Politics 1.1260a. Aristotle himself quotes a poet. Here are his exact words: 'All classes must be deemed to have their special attributes; as the poet says of women, 'Silence is a woman's glory,' (γυναικὶ κόσμον ἡ σιγὴ φέρει) but this is not equally the glory of man.'
These ideas are part of the Athenian stock and used by Aristotle in his argument on the virtues in the state. He explores the differences and common ground between men, women, slaves in the larger context of the virtues of the ruler.
It can be seen that these affirmations are echoed and shared in what Paul writes several centuries later in 1 Corinthians 11:7 and 14:34. Phrases like 'the woman is the glory of man,' and 'they are not permitted to speak' are part of the similar stock of ideas peculiar to the hellenistic vision, about the life in the city/state, as we have it in Aristotle.
These ideas are part of the Athenian stock and used by Aristotle in his argument on the virtues in the state. He explores the differences and common ground between men, women, slaves in the larger context of the virtues of the ruler.
It can be seen that these affirmations are echoed and shared in what Paul writes several centuries later in 1 Corinthians 11:7 and 14:34. Phrases like 'the woman is the glory of man,' and 'they are not permitted to speak' are part of the similar stock of ideas peculiar to the hellenistic vision, about the life in the city/state, as we have it in Aristotle.
Brunner on Creation and Creator
The first word of the Bible is about the Creator and the creation. This is the fundamental affirmation on which all the other affirmations are based. The world is the house of the Great King and Great Artist.
Man can not see him, man can only see the world. The world is his creation and it speaks about him. Even so the man does not know God. Men are are obsessed by their own achievements and they do not discern the miraculous deeds of God. Think at what a miracle is the human eye. The eye is the window of the soul, is the soul looking outside and in the same time the soul himself can be looked upon. Is the hazard making seeing possible? This would be an absurd superstition. We are like dogs in an art gallery. We see the pictures on the walls, but we do not discern them. The cause for our failure is our foolishness, our arrogance, and our lack of respect. Read More...
Man can not see him, man can only see the world. The world is his creation and it speaks about him. Even so the man does not know God. Men are are obsessed by their own achievements and they do not discern the miraculous deeds of God. Think at what a miracle is the human eye. The eye is the window of the soul, is the soul looking outside and in the same time the soul himself can be looked upon. Is the hazard making seeing possible? This would be an absurd superstition. We are like dogs in an art gallery. We see the pictures on the walls, but we do not discern them. The cause for our failure is our foolishness, our arrogance, and our lack of respect. Read More...
Brunner on the Mystery of God
If somebody speaks about God as he speaks about his cousin he knows nothing about God. We do not know anything about God unless he reveals it to us. When he reveals himself to us we understand, again, how inaccessible is he for our thinking. He is above our world. He is a mystery. We are not able to unlock the mystery about him. Never. Read More...
Luther's Seal and Theology
Martin Luther designed his seal to depict his theology. This is a good example of clarity, communication and boldness. Both the seal and the letter, that explains it, are presented here. The seal is a sign of maturity and it has to be seen as the compendium of his theology, and, as such, as the hermeneutical key for his writings. Read More...
Brunner on the Bible as the Word of God
The Christian Church believes that the Bible is the Word of God. The Christians are the product of the Bible. There are Christians because there is the Bible. The Bible is the soil in which the Christian faith grows. The Christian faith is the faith in Christ, and we can find Christ in the Bible, and from there he speaks to us. Read More...
Discerning the Way to Go
22/Apr/2015 14:51 Filed in: Discipleship
You cannot go towards something if the mind is not focused on it. Drifting and walking in circles is diminishing, frustrating and leads nowhere. A human being cannot live such a life. Everyone needs to see the path, and then to walk on it. Getting out of the mist is a must. The way to do it is by using the reference points: God, others, and special events. We are relational beings, and we find ourselves being with others. Read More...
Brunner on the Existence of God
I share with you my thoughts on some of my daily readings. These days I read Emil Brunner (Unse Glaube, 1935). I make available these notes because I believe that we have many things to learn from this theologian, even if we disagree at certain points (i.e. the character of revelation, infallibility of Scripture). Enjoy reading!
If somebody asks about God's existence the polite answer is silence, and the proper answer is 'You fool!' God is not an object of knowledge; we cannot investigate God as we do with people, objects or natural phenomena. God is not from this world, he is not of this world, he is not an object among other objects. That is why, he can't be the object of our knowledge. Read More...
The existence of God
If somebody asks about God's existence the polite answer is silence, and the proper answer is 'You fool!' God is not an object of knowledge; we cannot investigate God as we do with people, objects or natural phenomena. God is not from this world, he is not of this world, he is not an object among other objects. That is why, he can't be the object of our knowledge. Read More...
Life, good, and blessings
The theological horizon for life in the people of God is given at the end of Deuteronomy. The chapters 28-30 are a summary of the first five books in the Bible, focusing on the faithfulness to the covenant. The prophets, Jesus and the apostles understood their ministries in the light of this theological horizon. Read More...
Derrida, Foucault and Cogito
19/Dec/2014 10:07 Filed in: Philosophy | Culture
The overall approach of Derrida is on Cogito and the history of madness. Derrida starts his analysis based on Foucault’s reference to Descartes’s Meditations (Foucault 1965, 184-187, Derrida 1978, 32). Philosophical dignity has nothing to do with madness and insanity, they do not have entrance into the philosopher’s city (Derrida 1978, 32). By its essence Cogito cannot be mad. Read More...
Sartre's Atheistic Existentialism
Existentialism begins with the subjective, the existence comes before the essence (Sartre 1945, 1). This subjective is the ‘human reality,’ it is a being which exist before being defined by any concept (Sartre 1945, 1). Read More...
Mythos of Enlightenment
The movement of Enlightenment is complex and radical. It has the purpose of liberating men from fear and establishing their sovereignty (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 3), and the program of the disenchantment of the world (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 3). Its radicality is seen in extinguishing any trace of its own self-consciousness (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 4); also some substitutions take place: formula for concept, rule and probability for cause and motive (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 5). The rule of computation and utility is the measuring standard; if something does not conform to this, it becomes suspect (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 6). Read More...
The Cross to Rome, Studies in Romans
The Early Christians took their 'good tidings' to Rome. Their main spokesman was Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. In his Letter to the Romans he touches on the theme of the cross. This is the subject of this collection of studies.
This book is available HERE.
Heidegger on Da-sein
According the Heidegger being has the character of Da-sein, and the fundamental structure of Da-sein is being-in-the-world (Heidegger 1996, 37). This structure is constantly whole. The essence of this being lies in its to be (Heidegger 1996, 39); the essence of Da-sein lies in its existence (Heidegger 1996, 40). Read More...
Hofstadter's Criticism of Nagel
The point of Hofstadter’s distinction between ‘What would it be like for me to be X’ and ‘What is it like, objectively, to be X’ is based on the observation, which he formulates as a question, of ‘How can something be something that it isn’t?’ (Hofstadter 1981, 409). This question is deepened by the other fact that both these two ‘things’ can have experience (Hofstadter 1981, 409). And then, he continues by offering, perhaps, the final blow, by bringing a third party into the equation: Like for whom? (Hofstadter 1981, 409). Is it for us, the perceivers, or, again ‘objectively’?
According to Hofstadter this is the ‘sticking’ point of Nagel’s article (Nagel wants to know if it is possible to give a description of the real nature of human experience in terms accessible to beings that could not imagine what it was like to be us.). Hofstadter says that this is ‘a blatant contradiction’ (Hofstadter 1981, 409). It seems that no one can know objectively what it is subjectively like (Hofstadter 1981, 409).
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According to Hofstadter this is the ‘sticking’ point of Nagel’s article (Nagel wants to know if it is possible to give a description of the real nature of human experience in terms accessible to beings that could not imagine what it was like to be us.). Hofstadter says that this is ‘a blatant contradiction’ (Hofstadter 1981, 409). It seems that no one can know objectively what it is subjectively like (Hofstadter 1981, 409).
Read More...
Heidegger and the Meaning of Being
Why the question of ‘Being’ has been forgotten?
The answer formulated by Heidegger has three major aspects. The overall perspective is that there are prejudices that promote the idea that a questioning of being is not needed. These prejudices are rooted in ancient ontology (Heidegger 1996, 2). These prejudices are presented by Heidegger in three sections: universality, indefinability, and self evidence. Heidegger’s description and critique of every one of these goes like this. Read More...
The answer formulated by Heidegger has three major aspects. The overall perspective is that there are prejudices that promote the idea that a questioning of being is not needed. These prejudices are rooted in ancient ontology (Heidegger 1996, 2). These prejudices are presented by Heidegger in three sections: universality, indefinability, and self evidence. Heidegger’s description and critique of every one of these goes like this. Read More...
Husserl and Descartes on Ego cogito
Husserl admires Descartes and follows him up to a point, but from there on he goes on a different path. Husserl goes that far that he is willing to speak about phenomenology as a new twentieth century Cartesianism (Husserl, 1973, 3). According to Husserl the themes in Meditations are timeless and can give birth to what is characteristic of phenomenological method (Husserl, 1973, 3).
Continuity
Read More...Again on Descartes' Method
Descartes method of doubting exposed in the Mediations worked in the following way. His intention was to doubt every proposition he was able to. For that he used two conjectures: the conjecture of the dream, and the conjecture of the evil demon. All his knowledge can be just a dream or all his knowledge can be a big lie because some evil demon is devoted to deceive him. Descartes’s point with these two conjectures was to show their bizarreness. He needed a measure of certainty that goes beyond everything, even reaching the incredible and the bizarre. Read More...